Missing You All – Updates, a Stash-Buster FO and General Catchup

I have been thinking I am long past due to catch up and create a post, but I just looked at the date of my last post, and wow, it’s been even longer than I thought! I hope you all had a great summer, and that it feels good to be starting fall and hopefully some new fall projects.

Mine was a summer of finishing projects, evaluating, prioritizing, and focusing on health. By the end of last school year, I was feeling unusually exhausted and drained. I was having crazy insomnia, and finding it hard to focus, with a sense of being completely scattered and frazzled ALL the time. A friend suggested I should look into adrenaline fatigue because my symptoms fit the bill. The more I read about it, the more I identified with everything people say about it. The fix is actually not that complicated – much of the solution lies in getting proper nutrition at regular intervals, getting regular exercise, keeping a routine, and getting proper rest.

As we all know, taking care of yourself requires time, and none of us ever have enough time. I decided that if I was really going to follow through on practicing my good health habits, then I would also have to prioritize everything else in life and let some things go, and say no to anything that would require me compromising good health habits.

I am happy to say that I focused on healthy eating, exercise and maintaining a good routine, and so with no pills or supplements or any such “extras”, I feel myself again. I wanted to share so you’d know why I’ve been MIA, but also to encourage anyone else who may be feeling that way to never feel guilty about slowing the pace to take care of yourself, and to start saying no if you are feeling overbooked to that point.

So, on to the fun stuff. 🙂 I am happy to say I finished a number of projects that have been languishing, unfinished, in the back of my knitting closet for too many years. The first is a yarn scraps throw I made for my living room couch.

It is adapted from this pattern, from Kristin Nicholas’s book Crafting a Colorful Home. I absolutely LOVE that book, and I hope one day my house is some version of what you see in that book.

As you can see, I had certain yarns I was trying to use up, so my version is much more color-coordinated that the one in the book. I actually love both ways of doing it, and I loved this pattern. It really is a great stash-buster, and you can pick it up and set it down as you have scraps become available. The photo above is what the back of the blanket looks like. There is no tedious weaving in of ends, and she tells you in the pattern how to tie off the ends.

If you do a larger mix of colors like Kristin shows in the book, you can knit them in whatever order you want. However, if you are doing a more limited color palette like I did, I recommend at least one high-contrast color to help break up the colors that are close together if you want to maintain the striped feel of the blanket. As for the pattern itself, you can just Netflix binge to your heart’s content. It is mostly knitting, with occasional purl rows, because each stripe is 3 rows. You need circulars because you will be moving the stitches to one end or the other when you start a new color. It doesn’t get too bulky because you knit strips of stripes, and then mattress-stitch the strips together when you’re done.

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6 thoughts on “Missing You All – Updates, a Stash-Buster FO and General Catchup”

Kit Dunsmore

Glad to have you back. I also took a blog break (moving is a time suck!) and am ready to get back to posting. Sorry to hear about your health challenges. I have adrenal fatigue and other conditions that require a ton of self care. Happy to hear you were able to get your energy back. Also I love the blanket. I want to make one with the handspun yarn I have made. Need to get organized and start that project.

Thank you! Yes, moving is a huge, tedious timesuck! Sounds like you deserve to enjoy some relaxing craft time. 😉 And I am sorry for your health conditions too. I hope you are able to feel better too. I have to keep reminding myself that taking time to work out, cook healthy food at home, and keep a good routine is actually a timesaver because we can’t work effectively or well if our health is suffering. The blanket is very easy, relaxing knitting, and the book is a great read too.

Hi Elizabeth! Nice to see a post from you again. Ages ago I told you via the comments about a lady in Dunedin (New Zealand) who dyes colourful wools representative of the plumage of various native birds and you expressed interest in perhaps sourcing such wool. I did a post about her wools in July where you can see photos and her contact details. See “A Good Yarn” at: https://exploringcolour.wordpress.com/2018/07/13/a-good-yarn/

Hi Elizabeth. From Loris’s about page “We supply a range of shops in New Zealand, export to Australia and the USA and have a lovely relationship with our online buyers.” Her website is http://www.merino-lace.co.nz and her email is on the Contact Us page. If you contact her please let her know that I told you about her and give her the link to my blog-post. Loris is a lovely and very knowledgeable lady. If you tell her I’m the person who lent her an Australian magazine about a year ago she might even remember who I am! I’ve talked to her a couple of times in the Dunedin Co-op shop. At the time I was living in Dunedin. Cheers, Liz